The state and higher education in Colombia

The development of higher education in Colombia is discussed in terms of its recent quantitative expansion and the accompanying qualitative differentiation. Beginning in 1980 with the University Reform of that year, the state sought to give shape to the system by policies intended (i) to improve its organization (ii) to expand it on more democratic lines and (iii) to improve its quality. The authors discuss the developments which marked attempts to implement these aims. Two critical policy areas emerged—the funding of the system and the administration of the public sector part of it. Current debates are analysed and the authors provide pointers to possible future developments including the development of a highly stratified system with little interaction between the top and the bottom.     

Does Self-directedness in Learning and Careers Predict the Employability of Low-Qualified Employees?

Employability has become a key element in sustaining successful vocational careers. The role of self-directedness is considered paramount in maintaining one’s employability. However, it also requires certain competences on part of employees to invest in learning and career development. This study examines the influence of self-directedness in learning and career of low-qualified employees on their employability. In a follow-up study of 284 low-qualified employees, we find that higher levels of self-directedness in learning and career of employees corresponds with higher chance to be promoted to higher-level job positions (vertical job mobility). However, no relationship was found between different formats of self-directedness and job retention or horizontal job mobility of lower qualified personnel.     

Learning (not) to become a teacher: A qualitative analysis of the job entrance issue

Reporting on 12 case studies of student teachers, this paper examines how experiences during teacher education affect graduates’ decision on job entrance. Interpretative data-analysis reveals that powerful sources of the shift in motivation to enter teaching concern interactions in which the person of the teacher is at stake. These mainly involve student teachers’ need to develop a socially recognized sense of professional competence as well as their dealing with social and cultural working conditions in schools. These crucial determinants act as “double-edged swords”, being at the same time important sources for recognition as for self-doubts and loss of job motivation.     

A cross-cultural investigation into how tasks influence seatwork activities in mathematics lessons

This study examined how types of tasks influenced student activities/thinking and defined the role of Seatwork in mathematics lessons. It used 60 lessons from the TIMSS videotaped Study. These data indicated that practice was the most prevalent form of tasks in the U.S. In Germany, students completed mathematical calculations after a complex problem-solving segment. In Japan, teachers combined practice of routine procedures in Seatwork with opportunities to prepare material, think about problems, and explore concepts. Findings expand our understanding of how tasks organize learning opportunities and effect how students come to understand mathematics.     

Metaphorical understandings and scientific ideas

This study looks at the ideas which children have of the particulate model of matter, at the time they start formal science in school. Pupils aged about eleven in three European countries‐‐Greece, Portugal and the UK‐‐were studied using word association tests. In the UK and Portugal the children had received no teaching of the particulate model; in Greece the pupils had received one year of introductory science, containing some teaching of the particulate model. Key words associated with the particulate model were investigated as free associations. In Portugal and the UK there was little or no evidence of particulate ideas in the pupils’ responses. In the Greek data particulate ideas were more in evidence. There were other clear differences in the data from the three countries. Educational and research implications of the findings are discussed.     

Diagnosing Portuguese Students' Misconceptions about the Mineral Concept

Educational researchers and teachers are well aware that misconceptions—erroneous ideas that differ from the scientifically accepted ones—are very common amongst students. Daily experiences, creative and perceptive thinking and science textbooks give rise to students' misconceptions which lead them to draw erroneous conclusions that become strongly attached to their views and somehow affect subsequent learning. The main scope of this study was to understand what students consider a mineral to be and why. Therefore, the goals were (1) to identify eleventh-grade students' misconceptions about the mineral concept; (2) to understand which variables (gender, parents' education level and attitude towards science) influenced students' conceptions; and (3) to create teaching tools for the prevention of misconceptions. In order to achieve these goals, a diagnostic instrument (DI), constituted of a two-tier diagnostic test and a Science Attitude Questionnaire, was developed to be used with a sample of 89 twelfth-grade students from five schools located in central Portugal. As far as we know, this is the first DI developed for the analysis of misconceptions about the mineral concept. Data analysis allows us to conclude that students had serious difficulties in understanding the mineral concept, having easily formed misconceptions. The variables gender and parents' education level influence certain students' conceptions. This study provides a valuable basis for reflection on teaching and learning strategies, especially on this particular theme.     

Las posibilidades de un modelo teórico para la enseñanza de la comprensión lectora

Resumen

La autora aborda la problemática de la enseñanza de la comprensión lectora desde la perspectiva del modelo interactivo. Tras explicitar las características de este módelo y los avances que supone respecto de formalizaciones anteriores—bottom up y top down—, el artículo se centra en las indicaciones que de él se desprenden para la planificación de actividades de enseñanza/aprendizaje cuyo objeto es la comprensión de textos. Se insiste particularmente en la imposibilidad de aplicar mecánicamente dichos principios, y en la función primordial del maestro para promover en los alumnos estrategias adecuadas de comprensión lectora.     

Sex education in Spain: the relevance of teachers’ training and attitudes / Educación sexual en España: importancia de la formación y las actitudes del profesorado

Abstract

This research has two main aims: a) the study of Spanish teachers’ training and attitudes towards sex education, as well as the delivery of this subject in classrooms, while also exploring the existence of differences according to personal and professional characteristics; and b) to examine the association between teachers’ training and attitudes, and the extent to which these variables predict the delivery of sex education. A total of 3,695 Infant, Primary, Secondary and High school teachers (66.1% women, 33.9% men) throughout the country completed a voluntary online questionnaire that inquired about their training and attitudes towards sex education, their delivery or non-delivery of this subject in classrooms, and other personal and professional characteristics. Analyses indicate that participants show positive attitudes towards sex education, but that 43.3% are not trained in this issue, and 48.6% do not teach it at school. Some significant differences by sex, educational stage and type of school have been found. In addition, trained teachers show more positive attitudes to sex education. Finally, having more positive attitudes and, to a lesser extent, having prior training, positively predicts the delivery of sex education. These results highlight the importance of reviewing and improving teachers’ training on sexuality and sex education, with particular emphasis on attitudinal contents.     

Cognitive skills used to solve mathematical word problems and numerical operations: a study of 6- to 7-year-old children

This study investigates the relationship between skills that underpin mathematical word problems and those that underpin numerical operations, such as addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Sixty children aged 6–7 years were tested on measures of mathematical ability, reading accuracy, reading comprehension, verbal intelligence and phonological awareness, using a mix of standardised and experimenter-designed tests. The experimental hypothesis was that mathematical word problems will call upon cognitive skills that are different and additional to those required by numerical operations, in particular verbal ability and reading comprehension, while phonological awareness and reading accuracy will be associated with both types of mathematical problems. The hypothesis is partly affirmed and partly rejected. Reading comprehension was found to predict performance on mathematical word problems and not numerical operations, and phonological awareness was found to predict performance on both types of mathematics. However, the predictive value of verbal ability and reading accuracy was found to be non-significant.